Acts 13:16-25

Context
13:16 So Paul stood up,¹ gestured² with his hand and said,

“Men of Israel,³ and you Gentiles who fear God,⁴ listen: 13:17 The God of this people Israel⁵ chose our ancestors⁶ and made the people great⁷ during their stay as foreigners⁸ in the country⁹ of Egypt, and with uplifted arm¹⁰ he led them out of it. 13:18 For¹¹ a period of about forty years he put up with¹² them in the wilderness.¹³ 13:19 After¹⁴ he had destroyed¹⁵ seven nations¹⁶ in the land of Canaan, he gave his people their land as an inheritance.¹⁷ 13:20 All this took¹⁸ about four hundred fifty years. After this¹⁹ he gave them judges until the time of²⁰ Samuel the prophet. 13:21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled²¹ forty years. 13:22 After removing him, God²² raised up²³ David their king. He testified about him:²⁴ ‘I have found David²⁵ the son of Jesse to be a man after my heart,²⁶ who will accomplish everything I want him to do.’²⁷ 13:23 From the descendants²⁸ of this man²⁹ God brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, just as he promised.³⁰ 13:24 Before³¹ Jesus³² arrived, John³³ had proclaimed a baptism for repentance³⁴ to all the people of Israel. 13:25 But while John was completing his mission,³⁵ he said repeatedly,³⁶ ‘What do you think I am? I am not he. But look, one is coming after me. I am not worthy to untie the sandals on his feet!’³⁷

[13:16] ¹tn This participle, ἀναστάς (anasta"), and the following one, κατασείσας (kataseisa"), are both translated as adverbial participles of attendant circumstance.

[13:16] ²tn Or “motioned.”

[13:16] ³tn Or “Israelite men,” although this is less natural English. The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context involving an address to a synagogue gathering, it is conceivable that this is a generic usage, although it can also be argued that Paul’s remarks were addressed primarily to the men present, even if women were there.

[13:16] ⁴tn Grk “and those who fear God,” but this is practically a technical term for the category called God-fearers, Gentiles who worshiped the God of Israel and in many cases kept the Mosaic law, but did not take the final step of circumcision necessary to become a proselyte to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, TDNT 6:732-34, 743-44.

[13:17] ⁵tn Or “people of Israel.”

[13:17] ⁶tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[13:17] ⁷tn That is, in both numbers and in power. The implication of greatness in both numbers and in power is found in BDAG 1046 s.v. ὑψόω 2.

[13:17] ⁸tn Or “as resident aliens.”

[13:17] ⁹tn Or “land.”

[13:17] ¹⁰sn Here uplifted arm is a metaphor for God’s power by which he delivered the Israelites from Egypt. See Exod 6:1, 6; 32:11; Deut 3:24; 4:34; Ps 136:11-12.

[13:18] ¹¹tn Grk “And for.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[13:18] ¹²tn For this verb, see BDAG 1017 s.v. τροποφορέω (cf. also Deut 1:31; Exod 16:35; Num 14:34).

[13:18] ¹³tn Or “desert.”

[13:19] ¹⁴tn Grk “And after.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[13:19] ¹⁵tn The participle καθελών (kaqelwn) is taken temporally.

[13:19] ¹⁶sn Seven nations. See Deut 7:1.

[13:19] ¹⁷tn Grk “he gave their land as an inheritance.” The words “his people” are supplied to complete an ellipsis specifying the recipients of the land.

[13:20] ¹⁸tn The words “all this took” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to make a complete statement in English. There is debate over where this period of 450 years fits and what it includes: (1) It could include the years in Egypt, the conquest of Canaan, and the distribution of the land; (2) some connect it with the following period of the judges. This latter approach seems to conflict with 1 Kgs 6:1; see also Josephus, Ant. 8.3.1 (8.61).

[13:20] ¹⁹tn Grk “And after these things.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[13:20] ²⁰tn The words “the time of” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[13:21] ²¹tn The words “who ruled” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. They have been supplied as a clarification for the English reader. See Josephus, Ant. 6.14.9 (6.378).

[13:22] ²²tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:22] ²³sn The expression raised up refers here to making someone king. There is a wordplay here: “raising up” refers to bringing someone onto the scene of history, but it echoes with the parallel to Jesus’ resurrection.

[13:22] ²⁴tn Grk “about whom.” The relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced by the pronoun “him” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek. The verb εἶπεν (eipen) has not been translated (literally “he said testifying”) because it is redundant when combined with the participle μαρτυρήσας (marturhsa", “testifying”). Instead the construction of verb plus participle has been translated as a single English verb (“testified”).

[13:22] ²⁵sn A quotation from Ps 89:20.

[13:22] ²⁶sn A quotation from 1 Sam 13:14.

[13:22] ²⁷tn Or “who will perform all my will,” “who will carry out all my wishes.”

[13:23] ²⁸tn Or “From the offspring”; Grk “From the seed.”

[13:23] ²⁹sn The phrase this man is in emphatic position in the Greek text.

[13:23] ³⁰tn Grk “according to [his] promise.” The comparative clause “just as he promised” is less awkward in English.

[13:24] ³¹tn Grk “John having already proclaimed before his coming a baptism…,” a genitive absolute construction which is awkward in English. A new sentence was begun in the translation at this point.

[13:24] ³²tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the context for clarity, since God is mentioned in the preceding context and John the Baptist in the following clause.

[13:24] ³³sn John refers here to John the Baptist.

[13:24] ³⁴tn Grk “a baptism of repentance”; the genitive has been translated as a genitive of purpose.

[13:25] ³⁵tn Or “task.”

[13:25] ³⁶tn The verb ἔλεγεν (elegen) has been translated as an iterative imperfect, since John undoubtedly said this or something similar on numerous occasions.

[13:25] ³⁷tn Literally a relative clause, “of whom I am not worthy to untie the sandals of his feet.” Because of the awkwardness of this construction in English, a new sentence was begun here.